I Became The Male Lead's Female Friend

At that time, I still didn’t know what I had to say.

I just felt sorry for Rudrick, who said that and smiled happily, and I laughed without realizing it and said, “I feel the same.”

Since then, I have stopped talking about engagements or marriage to Rudrick at all.

After I heard that, I didn’t want to see Rudrick’s face, it made me unknowingly anxious.

Also, as Rudrick said, I wanted to remain comfortable, not uneasy.

And it was still the same today.

After separating from that meeting, Rudrick finally saw the family’s ruin with his own eyes.

Seeing his family heading toward the abyss, he would have become stronger rather than changed his mind.

So I could be sure. No matter how hard I think about it, Rudrick.

“I would never think like that.”

✿

‘Dahlia and I are passionately dating?’

As if he had heard an unexpected fact, Rudrick stared blankly at the knights in front of him.

They glanced at Rudrick when he didn’t say anything and remained silent.

“Uh… I heard it, too. I heard you two have promised the future since you were young.”

“Oh, me too! I heard you thought about each other even though you were apart for a long time, It’s romantic…”

“The Princess is also amazing. They say that the reason why she has had no fiancé until now is that she has been waiting for you.”

‘…?’

Rudrick squinted at the rumor that it was going in a strange direction.

All of a sudden, Rudrick, who’s rumored to have become a man of misfortune who went to war over a loved one, and Dahlia, a woman of supreme piety, waiting only for the one she loves.

Rudrick thought of Dahlia, who must have been waiting for him with pitiful tears, as his men said.

Then, without realizing it, he laughed out loud and felt absurd.

‘Dahlia?’

Rudrick said briefly, biting his tongue as if the rumors were gibberish.

“That’s nonsense.”

Then all the men who had been chatting happily for a long time looked puzzled at Rudrick’s words.

“Yes…? Then all those rumors are not true…”

“Yes, it’s a false rumor.”

“Aha, was it all a rumor?”

Soon, his men’s faces turned more spectacular.

Some of them left their mouths gaping, finding it unbelievable, while others made a vain expression as if they had lost something interesting to talk about.

“Why did you hug her as soon as you saw her? Because of that, we believe the Princess must be your lover…”

‘Were my subordinates the ones who started the rumors?’ Thought Rudrick

Rudrick’s face contorted for a moment, as they had a chance of doing so if they were tight-lipped.

“What does that have to do with you?”

Seeing their Lord, who became cold in an instant, the knights stopped their humming and turned their heads to look at him.

He has been generous so far, and if they touch more from here, they would be kicked out of the suburbs as a group.

Rudrick’s eyebrows furrowed as he watched them become quiet in an instant. Rudrick himself couldn’t even figure out why he suddenly hugged her as soon as he saw Dahlia.

But he didn’t want to tell it to his men, and he felt bad even to wonder about it. Thinking that he would later roll them out as a group, Rudrick tried to kick them out right away.

If I hadn’t heard a suspicious question from a knight.

“Uh… But she seemed to have a heart for you.”

The eyes of everyone in the room were fixed on one night. It was Ethan Miller, who was outstanding in his skills but didn’t have much sense.

“What?”

“The Princess.”

Someone quickly gave him a hint, but there was no one to stop him, who had already opened his mouth.

“I don’t think you’re just a friend, but you’re kind to him. Isn’t that usually because you have a heart for the other person?”

For a moment, Rudrick was completely frozen.

“That’s nonsense.”

It’s nonsense, everything he said was rubbish.

What does that guy know about Dahlia?

Dahlia has been friendly since she was a child. She was a kind person by nature, and she was never unkind in front of him.

“Come to think of it, I heard that the Princess is always certain to end everyone that approaches…”

“Other knights also approached her a few times, but she just smiled and threw them away…”

“Then it’s only to you…?”

His subordinates are good at fluttering. Even now, they’re just blabbering with each other…

“Is that right? Who even does that to a friend?”

Suddenly, Ethan’s voice echoed in his ear.

“It’s because she likes you!”

‘Because she likes me?’ Rudrick repeated the phrase secretly.

‘Because she likes me, she smiles at me because she likes me, treats me kindly because she likes me, holds my hands because she likes me, and wishes for my happiness because Dahlia likes me…’

Suddenly, his heart was beating like it was going to explode. His stomach churned. It was like when he first realized Dahlia’s lie.

My stomach aches as if I’m about to vomit, and this feeling of the ground sinking…

“Dahlia likes me?”

‘Dahlia…’

Rudrick slowly closed his eyes. Then, his mind which had been constantly shaken became calm and reason finally came.

“No way.”

He knows Dahlia several times better than these ignorant people.

In the first place, his subordinates were wrong from the start.

Dahlia, eagerly, waited only for the end. She doesn’t hit on other people while waiting for him, she just has a high standard.

Since childhood, Dahlia had much higher standards than ordinary people.

It’s not just that she has a good eye for people. Where and what she saw, she had strange values.

Of course, Rudrick knew that Dahlia had fantasies about romantic love. And he could also understand why.

Dahlia’s parents, the Duke and Duchess of Averine, were famous in the Empire for their gold thread.

In particular, Rudrick, who saw them up close, knew better than anyone else that the gold thread of the Averine’s was real.

The Duke of Averine, who told him about his family from time to time, was seen to love and care for his family with all his heart.

In particular, the Duchess sometimes showed indecisive aspects.

Growing up with such parents, it was understandable that Dahlia had fantasies about dating and marriage.

But the illusion was not an ordinary one.

“I’m going to be the end-of-the-century love.”

One day, Rudrick looked at Dahlia with a puzzled look at the book and brought up such a story.

Then, suddenly, he glanced at the book she was reading.

‘The Secret Matters of the Kidnapped Countess.’

Knowing that he was looking at her with puzzlement, Dahlia spoke without hesitation.

“One day, we meet love like fate, but we fall in love at first sight, then there’s conflict, push each other away, and we can’t refuse the feelings of being attracted to each other. We must overcome hardships and adversity and end up with a flame of love.”

“…”

“And in fact, some were bound together from their previous lives. A fate that could not be fulfilled tragically in a previous life, but a fate that had to be fulfilled unconditionally because of the promise to love only one person in the next life!”

“…”

Rudrick, who listened to her blankly, said only a few words, “Stop reading novels…”

Some may ask if it was a joke, but he knew it when he saw it in person.

That Dahlia’s eyes were shining more seriously than ever.

‘So Dahlia can’t do that.’

They don’t know how much Dahlia transcends far from their common sense right now, how much she trembles with innocence.

So, except for those who know her true reality, they must be mistaken.

The Princess, who grew up beautifully in Averine like flowers in a greenhouse, must be in love.

“Ha…”

Rudrick, who was even more depressed as he organized his thoughts, looked at his subordinates, who were still deluded and talking freely.

Before they knew it, Dahlia became a poor girl who fell in love with the cold Duke of the North and was receiving sympathy from the knights.

“Somehow, to our Excellency…”

“Still, you two get along very well…”

“Because the Princess is also beautiful. A baby born between the two of you must look really cute…”

Even now, he had to shut his stupid men up and kick them out, but strangely, Rudrick didn’t feel like it.

Was it because I lost my strength and was swept away by their fluttering for a moment without realizing it, or was it because I wanted to see how far they go if I left them alone?

In any case, Rudrick did not stop his men anymore and their delusions.